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Battle Mountain girls Alpine ski team wins Beaver Creek slalom

Boys took second by one point in second meet of the season

Ruthie Demino on her way to a second-place finish in the Colorado High School Ski League meet at Beaver Creek on Thursday.
Erik Gilbert/Courtesy photo

The Battle Mountain Alpine ski team has gotten its 2023 Colorado High School Ski League (CHSSL) season off to a fantastic start. On Thursday, the girls won the slalom team competition at Beaver Creek and the boys came in second by just one point, one week after both squads took second at the giant slalom at Loveland in the season opener.

“We are doing great so far as a team,” stated head coach Erik Gilbert. “Already qualified 21 different athletes to state after only the first two races. Hope to keep the momentum rolling!”

Battle Mountain’s Cricket Byrne placed second in the slalom at Thursday’s Colorado High School Ski League meet at Beaver Creek. The Huskies were second as a team on the boys side and first on the girls side.
Erik Gilbert/Courtesy photo

Thursday’s competition included eight teams, representing two of CHSSL’s four Alpine divisions. On the girls side, Battle Mountain was looking for some revenge after falling by just 10 points to Middle Park (a team’s best three athletes’ results are added together to form the overall team score) in Loveland on Jan. 6. In that race, Husky freshman Ruthie DeMino had the fastest times for both runs, cruising to the individual win by over two seconds.



On Thursday, DeMino placed second behind Middle Park junior Olivia Niedzwieck, but the Huskies put four in the top-10, with Makena Thayer, Thea Armistead and Emeline Mitchell placing fourth, ninth and 10th, respectively, to earn the team victory with 168 points. Middle Park finished with 164. Both Thayer and Armistead are also freshmen.

“Very strong freshmen group,” Gilbert said. “They are excellent teammates and are working on basics in their skiing, since simple skiing is fast skiing when you are fundamentally sound.”

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Ava Crowley put together two nice runs to place third overall for Vail Mountain School as the Gore Rangers (150) placed fourth as a team. Zoe Larese (14th) and Andrea Payen (24th) were the other scorers for VMS. Eagle Valley placed eighth and was led by Molly Heller (33rd) Charlotte Blevins (34th) and Evalynn Skiba (43rd).

“It was a great day on the hill. The weather was good and so was the snow,” stated Eagle Valley head coach Weston Gleiss. “The courses were set really well to challenge the kids but also give them a chance to push themselves. The kids skied great. You never really know how the first race is going to go and our athletes skied great.”

Gleiss said one thing he loves about ski racing is how it brings people together. “It truly takes a village to make these high school races happen,” he said. “To have the race crew, all these athletes, parents and coaches come together to make these races happen for the kids is remarkable.”

CHSSL Beaver Creek slalom girls results – Jan. 12

Team results (added from team’s top-three athletes)

Battle Mountain – 168

Middle Park – 164

Durango – 153

Vail Mountain School – 150

Nederland – 145

Lake County – 143

Clear Creek High School – 121

Eagle Valley High School – 120

Individual top 10

Pl  Bib  Class Team    Name                Run 1         Run 2        Result 
________________________________________________________________________________
1   188  Jr    MID   Olivia Niedzwiecki    44.84 (1)     46.56 (1)   1:31.40 (1) 
2   23   Fr    BMH   Ruthie * DeMino       48.31 (3)     49.19 (2)   1:37.50 (2) 
3   381  Sr    VMS   Ava Crowley           49.89 (4)     52.02 (6)   1:41.91 (3) 
4   801  Fr    BMH   Makena Thayer         51.20 (7)     51.25 (5)   1:42.45 (4) 
5   156  Sr    LCO   Rowynn Slivka         50.87 (6)     52.12 (7)   1:42.99 (5) 
6   970  Jr    DUR   Gracey Hening         52.12 (8)     51.20 (4)   1:43.32 (6) 
7   963  So    DUR   Lauren McClellan      52.24 (10)    52.46 (8)   1:44.70 (7) 
8   190  Fr    MID   Maggie Bellatty       50.79 (5)     54.56 (15)  1:45.35 (8) 
9   1    Fr    BMH   Thea Armistead        54.24 (19)    51.18 (3)   1:45.42 (9) 
10  56   Jr    BMH   Emeline Mitchell      52.21 (9)     54.48 (13)  1:46.69 (10)

 

CHSSL Beaver Creek slalom boys results – Jan. 12

Team results (added from team’s top-three athletes)

Middle Park – 173

Battle Mountain – 172

Durango – 154.5

Nederland – 154.5

Lake County – 135

Clear Creek High School – 127

Eagle Valley High School – 90

Vail Mountain School – 44

Individual top 10

Pl  Bib  Class Team    Name                Run 1         Run 2        Result 
________________________________________________________________________________
1   195  Jr    MID   Garrett Gillest       40.09 (2)     47.27 (1)   1:27.36 (1) 
2   12   Sr    BMH   Michael 'Cricket'     41.16 (3)     49.64 (2)   1:30.80 (2) 
3   185  Sr    MID   Sebastian Wiser       38.43 (1)     53.61 (7)   1:32.04 (3) 
4   65   Sr    BMH   Henry Regrut          42.37 (5)     51.23 (3)   1:33.60 (4) 
5   17   Sr    BMH   Andrew Conley         42.71 (6)     51.47 (5)   1:34.18 (5) 
6   196  Fr    MID   Salvador Stokled      43.63 (8)     51.50 (6)   1:35.13 (6) 
7   910  Jr    NED   Kelly Dylan           43.91 (9)     51.34 (4)   1:35.25 (7) 
8   965  Jr    DUR   Ian Fehr              41.36 (4)     53.89 (8)   1:35.25 (7) 
9   987  So    DUR   Dane Englund          46.07 (11)    53.90 (9)   1:39.97 (9) 
10  50   So    BMH   Keelan Losa           47.47 (14)    55.39 (10)  1:42.86 (10)

 

On the boys side, Middle Park totaled 173 points and was led by overall winner Garrett Gillest. The Huskies (172) placed four athletes in the top 10 of the 77-athlete field — Cricket Byrne (second), Henry Regrut (fourth), Andrew Conley (fifth) and Keelan Losa (10th).

Eagle Valley’s Silas Lovgren (27th) and Zach Higbee (37th) guided the Devils to a seventh-place finish and Aiden Burke (35th) led VMS to an eighth-place finish.

All three schools travel to Howelsen Hill for the next race, a slalom, on Jan. 19. The Alpine state ski meet is Feb. 16-17 at Copper Mountain.


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